Since I use a Franklin Covey with large rings I have the ability to get really detailed in my daily planning, but I still like the convenience of being able to see a whole month at a glance and a week at a glance - especially when I am doing long range planning like family vacations. I do a bit of decorating, but for the most part the decorating is limited to my Monthly and Weekly Pages and the decoration is usually only around the outside edges of the pages so that the actual calendar part remains free and easy to read. I do some color coding, mainly just writing with different ink colors for different members of my family. I also use stickers to note early release/late arrival and no school days for my kids. These two stickers are used on all three layouts - monthly, weekly and daily so that I can see at a glance when there will be a school schedule change. I also highlight special holidays and close family birthdays by outlining the day with a highlighter and the not quite so important holidays and special days are only highlighted part way.

I approach my three calendars as you would a project - starting with the big picture, then breaking it apart in sections, then finally filling in with details. For example, a person's Birthday would be written on the monthly calendar and if we were having a birthday party, then the time of the party would be written on the weekly calendar, but the daily calendar would have all of the details associated with the actual event like food, decorations, errands etc. If various errands and/or tasks needed to be accomplished in the days leading up to the party then those tasks/errands would be listed with detail during the days that they need to be accomplished. By using a system like this I know I can schedule future appointments/tasks if the monthly calendar shows nothing happening on a particular day (this saves time when scheduling doctor appointments, etc.). If I have to schedule something on a day that shows an event then I can just look at the week in question to see when that particular event is happening and then schedule around it.

My monthly calendar is just an overview which lists all holidays, birthdays and appointments, but without any detail. My month spans two pages and I am able to keep a whole year in my planner (January to December). My monthlies are not archived until the year is finished. Right now I am using Franklin Covey Her Point of View undated month on two pages.

My weeklies span two pages with the whole week on the left hand side and notes/need to do on the right along with a menu section. I custom made my own layouts and I purposefully keep them simple and easy to use. The example shown is the week during which Valentine's Day occurs. I am able to keep a whole year's worth of weeklies in my planner and will only archive previous weeks if I decide to use a planner with smaller rings.

The daily that I use is a combination of free daily printable (creative commons license) that I found online. It was dated for the year 2007 so I removed all of the information pertaining to the date and then I stamped with lines and add in the date. I also moved the Diary/Journal to the left page and the scheduling to the right page as I found that I usually do more writing on the scheduling side and being right handed it made more sense to have it on the right. I am able to keep two months of daily pages in my planner so as I finish up a month it gets archived and the month after next gets added. For example when I finish up February the daily pages for February will be removed so that I have room to add in the April daily pages. You will notice that in the photo that I am showing you Valentine's Day - I did decorate it up a bit since it was a special day, but I don't normally decorate the daily pages unless it is special.

As far as my planning goes, I use two planners - this one that has the calendar for everything in my life and then I have an A5 for my home business. I do not keep a calendar in it as I found it too confusing to keep two calendars so I just keep all of my appointments and need to do in this planner - it goes with me everywhere - even quick errands. I have a section in this planner for blogs (I have two) and it just lists blog ideas and another page to keep track of blog post titles and when the date I posted. I don't keep a home binder - we just have a family calendar that hangs on the wall and a mini command center for mail and kids stuff. I just recently purchased the Freedom Filing System for all of our home files and it is a self purging system and based upon the reviews it will make our home files much neater and easier to manage. We have set maintenance that we do every year in the Spring and Fall in and around the house. My husband and I have been married for 14 years (together for 20) so I really don't need to keep a list of what needs to be done around the house - it is pretty much routine by now.

My home business is with direct sales so I keep host information, contacts, catalog, party details, event details and team training in the A5 and it only leaves the house if I am going to an event or home party.

That's it for now, please feel free to comment with any questions that you have or share how you are making your calendar work for you.

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